Here is another OC for your reading pleasure... she has been mentioned before, so I thought it would only be fair to elaborate :)
10. Joan
Joan fixed the wall of weapons in front of her with a burning glare.
Something was missing.
"Evening, Joan!"
The young girl's glare faltered as Aris walked into the Weapons Room of the Hunters' Hut and returned his hunting knife. Joan pointedly looked at her watch and then back at Aris, who only shrugged.
"Come on, Joan," he said, "I'm only, what? Five minutes late."
"Seven."
"See? No big deal."
Aris gave her a pat on the shoulder before strolling out of the Weapons Room and Joan rolled her eyes. Honestly, the fifteen year-old couldn't help but think that sometimes, she was the only one that took anything seriously. With an annoyed sigh, Joan checked off the Hunters' Hut on her clipboard and made her way back to the Guards' Headquarters.
One of the many responsibilities that came with being in charge of the Guards was making sure that every weapon in Paradise was accounted for. Inventory was certainly Joan's least favourite part of the day, but it was a must - especially if Aris and the others kept getting so absent-minded.
As Joan walked into the low building that housed the training quarters for the Guards, her mind began to wander.
The training room is huge, and she can tell that it is set up in such a way so that the circuit will be especially difficult for her.
The first station of the circuit is mixed martial arts. A man dressed in black fitness attire waits to test her. She still finds it silly that a twelve year-old has to fight a grown man.
Beyond that, the second station is swordplay. It is much harder to hold up a sword after you've been fighting with your hands.
The third station is a gun range - the rifle is waiting to be picked up and aimed, but by that point, she will be so fatigued and injured that it will be a shock if she can still hold it up.
The fourth and final station is an archery range. After two tiring combat stations and a sore shoulder from the rifle's recoil, the bow and arrow will be her worst enemy in this circuit.
The whistle goes off in one, long screech and she sprints for the man in black, ready to charge him. At the last minute, just as he tries to make a grab for her, the young girl ducks and punches him in the side of the knee. The man's leg crumples a bit and he yelps in pain, giving her the perfect opportunity to immobilize him.
Two short shots of the whistle are her signal to move onto the second station, where she picks up her sword and immediately tries to disarm the woman waiting to challenge her. Things don't quite go as planned, and the young girl feels the woman's sword nick her on the arm. But she bites her tongue to keep from screaming out, twirls around, and stops her sword just a hairline away from the woman's abdomen.
Again, two short shots of the whistle are heard, and she sprints off to the gun range.
Her arms feel like lead at this point and it is a struggle to hold up the rifle, let alone to hold it steadily. But she knows that she will not be able to move on unless she shoots right in the bullseye, and on her last circuit that took her two shots. She has to be better this time.
And she is. One eye shut and the other open, the girl finds the bullseye, clenches her arm muscles, and stands her ground in preparation for the recoil. She pulls the trigger and doesn't even budge when the rifle painfully bangs against her shoulder. She has already put the rifle down by the time the two short screeches sound in her ears.
The archery range is her nemesis. It took her three shots last time to hit the bullseye, and a bow is much too unpredictable for her liking. But she needs to be better, so she picks up the weapon and ignores the pain in her arms and shoulders. She tries to steady her breathing and tune out everything until all she hears is the lub-dub of her heart and all she sees is the target in front of her. She pulls back the bow, arrow poised, squints at her target, and - bullseye.
A long screech of the whistle goes off, and she drops the bow in her hands, crumples to the ground, and finally lets out a groan of pain.
"Earth to Joan!"
Joan snapped out of her daydream and turned to one of the older Guards with a blank look. She couldn't quite place his name - her brain just kept identifying him as Sonya's boyfriend. Close enough, she supposed.
"Hm?" Joan grunted in response. "What is it? Inventory's in the clear, you're free to go."
"No, Gally's here," the man replied. "He wants to talk about taking out a pick-up tomorrow."
Ah, the cars. They had been found by some of the Navigators when they took a week-long trip and ventured into the unknown. Of course, the group had stumbled upon an abandoned and desolate city filled with - you guessed it - plenty of tech. Considering that WICKED had trained them to be geniuses, it wasn't too hard to fix some of the cars and computers that they had found. The Guards kept track of the cars - three Jeeps and two pick-ups.
Joan exited the low building and went around the back, where the open garage housed the five cars, to find Gally standing in front of one of the pick-ups. He whirled around at the sound of her footsteps.
"I was just - "
"Yeah, I heard," Joan interrupted. "What do you need it for, how long, and who else is coming?"
Gally didn't seem to fazed by her straightforward manner. "I was going to go get some more building materials - our stock is running low. I'll only need it for the day," he answered. "Harriet's coming along to help - she was a Builder as well, after all - and Minho lent me one of his Navigators. And before you ask, Sonya will be taking over Harriet's leadership duties, and Rose will take charge of the Foragers."
Joan nodded slowly. Everything seemed to be pretty organized. "I'm surprised Thomas doesn't want to tag along," she admitted. "He's usually all for taking day trips."
"Not really that surprising," Gally said with a snort as he motioned his head to some place behind her.
Joan turned her head and, sure enough, Thomas and Brenda were standing right behind them. He seemed to be hanging on her every word, but knowing Brenda, she was probably talking about the school curriculum or something just as work-related.
Joan rolled her eyes and gave an amused shake of her head as she returned her attention to Gally. "Of course," she muttered. "Well, I'll be here at sunrise tomorrow to give you the keys, and you need to have it back by sundown. Clear?"
"Crystal."
Yeah, Joan is pretty badass. She's one of my favourite TMR OCs, actually. Named after Joan of Arc, in case you didn't pick up on that, and she specializes in weaponry, combat, and mechanics.
Thank you to EVERYONE that has followed/favourited - I would love to hear your thoughts on the collection so far :)